Gameplay · 8 min
Aniimo DPS Tier List: All 16 Damage Dealers Ranked
Five S-tier damage engines, eight strong picks with a catch, and three that need the right terrain to shine. Every ranking argued from base stats, traits and setup cost, with the numbers checked against the Aniilog.
Written by
AniimoSync
Ranking, testing and commentary by AniimoSync, published here with permission
Full disclosure before a single Aniimo gets placed: I do not believe in metas. I am going to play however I want no matter who tells me what, and I recommend you do the same. Make a cute team, a cool team, a cuddly team. This game is PvE, the only real challenge is against yourself, and no tier list should be followed like a religion.
With that said, people keep asking which damage dealers are actually the strongest, and there is a real answer in the data. So I went through the official wiki's combat information for every DPS in the game: base stats, traits, damage bonuses, EP economy, crit rate, elemental conditions, setup requirements, and how consistently each one reaches its full damage in practice.
If you only want the answer: the best DPS in Aniimo are Stellarys, Malevsera, Grizbo, Fenmane and Fulmintis, the five S-tier picks, with Fulmintis carrying the highest attack in the game at 130. The full board is at the bottom.
And here is the reasoning: all 16 DPS Aniimo ranked from B to S tier, placement by placement. This is a pre-launch ranking built on beta and wiki data, so launch balancing can absolutely move things around.
How this list was built
Every placement below comes down to one question: how much work does this Aniimo need before it hits its ceiling? Raw attack matters, but so does whether the damage depends on terrain, debuff stacks, kills, RNG or player execution. The S tiers hit hard with almost no setup. The B tiers hit hard only when the conditions cooperate.
The numbers cited throughout are from the official Aniilog data, the same stats behind this site's own tier list, which grades the full roster across DPS, Break and Support. This piece is my combat-focused read on the damage role specifically.
B tier: good damage locked behind terrain
Sherro, Glynsera and Irisal are all good. They have the potential for serious damage. They just take work to get there, and everything above them does not.
Sherro runs on its Tidal Heart trait: more damage while absorbing water or standing in water terrain. Hydro Roll lets it make its own puddles, but without extra water around, the kit does it no favours. Base level it is unremarkable; buffed, it does real work.
TraitTidal HeartWhile in water terrain or after absorbing water, increases Water damage by 20% for 20s.Open Sherro in the Aniidex →
Glynsera has the same shape of problem in Ice: its crit rate rises by 15% against targets carrying more than five Ice Debuff stacks, so you spend a chunk of every fight building stacks before you reach maximum output.
TraitBiting WindWhen dealing damage to targets with more than 5 stacks of [Ice Debuff], increases critical rate of that damage by 15%.Open Glynsera in the Aniidex →
Irisal gains 20% damage while standing on grass. Plenty of Idyll has grass. Some fights do not, and in those the bonus simply is not there.
TraitDisco AniimoWhile on grass, damage increases by 20%. After entering battle, each skill hit grants 1 [Dance Power]. At 24, the next skill costs no EP.Open Irisal in the Aniidex →
A tier: strong kits with one catch each
A tier is stacked: eight Aniimo, each one a genuine damage dealer held back by a single condition.
Scorchhowl deals 15% bonus damage to enemies weak to its element, stacking on top of the counter multiplier, and Fire Kick doubles as an attack or a dodge with a 20% damage buff after use. The catch is you: played precisely, this is an S-tier Aniimo, and played casually it is not.
TraitScorching FlamesIncreases damage dealt to enemies weak to your element by 15%.Open Scorchhowl in the Aniidex →
Infergon sounds high-maintenance, 40% extra damage against enemies with more than five Fire Debuff stacks, until you notice Lava Breath applies eight stacks on its own. The condition basically switches itself on. Its base attack sits below the top S picks, which is the only reason it is here.
TraitPower of FireDeals 40% extra damage to enemies with more than 5 stacks of Fire Debuff.Open Infergon in the Aniidex →
Cornet may surprise people. Flying grants it 20% crit rate outright, and it brings strong burst and grouping. The trade is that an airborne playstyle eats more hits, so you are exchanging defence for damage.
TraitAir SuperiorityIncreases critical rate by 20% while flying.Open Cornet in the Aniidex →
Thornblade is one of the most complete kits in the role: skills build Sword Dance stacks, and each stack makes a basic attack deal 180% extra damage, on top of a counter, damage reduction and several crit tools. It can dodge and parry, which makes it my pick for anyone who wants a competitive feel. Like Scorchhowl, it is A because it demands execution.
TraitSword DanceEach skill used grants 1 stack of [Sword Dance], up to 4 stacks, lasting 15s. Each basic attack costs 1 stack of [Sword Dance] to deal 180% extra damage.Open Thornblade in the Aniidex →
Ignitis has 128 attack and gains 25% damage per kill, stacking twice. In open-world farming it is close to S. Against a lone boss with nothing to kill, part of the engine switches off.
TraitBattle FervorDefeating a target grants 1 stack of Battlelust, increasing damage by 25% for 20s. Stacks up to 2 times.Open Ignitis in the Aniidex →
Gachapus has one of the highest ceilings in the entire role: once Jackpot triggers, basic attack damage jumps 60% and the whole bubble system escalates. The ultimate activates Jackpot on demand, so the ceiling is always reachable, but the normal rotation stays RNG. Guaranteed, this would be one of the strongest Aniimo in the game.
TraitGachaponEach basic attack and skill triggers the gacha once, randomly firing an orange, purple, blue, or gold bubble and adding that bubble color to the gacha slots. Gold bubbles have a 1% chance to appear, while each other color has a 33% chance to appear. When the slots hold 5 bubbles of the same color, or when a gold bubble appears, all bubbles are cleared and [Jackpot] begins for 10s. In [Jackpot], basic attacks and skills no longer trigger the gacha and always fire Rainbow Bubbles. Basic attack damage +60%.Open Gachapus in the Aniidex →
Helion and Fennelun, the two Light DPS from the starter lines, close the tier. Both are self-scaling with excellent EP economy and damage uptime, and their statlines are essentially identical. Helion carried my entire third beta, Alphas included, with barely any investment. Honestly, both will probably be S at launch; I am only being conservative until we see the live build.
TraitSolar GraceWhen not attacking with an advantageous element, final damage increases by 20%. Every 4 basic attacks grants [Solar Halo], enhancing the next skill.Open Helion in the Aniidex →
TraitLunar PowerWhen not attacking with an advantageous element, final damage increases by 20%.Casting a skill or Ultimate grants 4 stacks of [Silver Moon Mark]. Each basic attack hit consumes 1 stack, deals 100% extra damage, and restores 0.5% HP.Open Fennelun in the Aniidex →
S tier: five engines with no wasted setup
Stellarys, and yes, it is a cat, not a squirrel, earns its spot with shadow magic: a 20-second clone that copies its basic attacks at 20% of its damage. That is not a stat bonus, it is a second damage source following your rotation, on a 125-attack frame with EP support and a swap-places tool for repositioning. Consistent and simple to pilot.
SkillShadow MagicImmediately breaks free of control effects and retreats from the target, leaving a clone behind for 20s. The clone cannot be attacked and mimics the user's basic attacks and skills, dealing damage equal to 20% of the user's damage. Use the skill again to swap places with the clone. The clone is destroyed if it moves more than 20m away from the user.Open Stellarys in the Aniidex →
Malevsera is the high-risk pick that actually hands you the tools to survive the risk. Damage scales with missing HP, 0.8% per 1% lost up to 48%, and Demonic State pushes skill damage further while the kit heals a large chunk back when the state ends. The whole design rewards sitting at low HP and then pays for the repair bill itself.
TraitBloodthirstFor every 1% HP lost, increases damage by 0.8%, up to 48%.Open Malevsera in the Aniidex →
Grizbo revolves around rage: at 100 it enters Enraged, gaining attack speed, 30% skill damage and 25% EP recovery. What makes it S is the ultimate. Rock Smash lands at 227 power and instantly fills rage to 100, so one button deals massive damage and drops you straight into your best combat state.
UltimateRock SmashLeaps high, immediately gains 100 [Rage], and becomes [Enraged], then crashes down with thunderous force, dealing delayed burst damage to targets around the impact point.Open Grizbo in the Aniidex →
Fenmane is the best example in the game of every piece feeding the next: Thunder Field adds lightning strikes and builds debuff, Thunder Imprint stores your damage and releases it on top, and Thunder Wings upgrades the ultimate with extra arrows and another explosion. The longer it stays on one target, the harder the engine compounds, which is exactly what you want against bosses. If there were a tier above S, Fenmane would be in it.
TraitThunderbondWhen this Aniimo's attack hits a target, it gains 1 stack of [Thunderbond]. At 30 stacks, it enters the [Thunderwing Stance] when using its next skill or Ultimate. Lasts 10s.Open Fenmane in the Aniidex →
Fulmintis has 130 attack, the highest of every DPS in the game, but the real reason it is here is the loop: skill crits restore EP, and a self-buff raises skill crit rate by 25% for 20 seconds, so the kit refunds you for doing exactly what it is built to do. Add paralysis and a heavy ultimate and you get high damage, clean resources and crowd control with almost nothing wasted.
TraitElectro StashRestores 4 EP when a skill lands a critical hit.Open Fulmintis in the Aniidex →
The strong picks you can grab early
A tier list is only useful if you can actually catch the things on it, and several of these are available early. Stellarys can be found very early in the game. So can Scorchhowl, Cornet turns up relatively quickly, and Irisal is common. Track down their Lumen stages and you can be running a genuinely strong damage core within your first hours, no rare spawns required.
Pair whichever DPS you pick with the right partners and coverage in our best teams hub, which has a recommended squad for every Aniimo in the game.
The final board
| Tier | Aniimo | Why |
|---|---|---|
| S | Stellarys, Malevsera, Grizbo, Fenmane, Fulmintis | Maximum damage with minimal setup: clones, self-fuelling rage, missing-HP scaling, compounding lightning, crit-EP loops |
| A | Scorchhowl, Infergon, Cornet, Thornblade, Ignitis, Gachapus, Helion, Fennelun | S-tier ceilings held back by one condition: execution, base attack, airborne risk, kills, RNG or pre-launch caution |
| B | Sherro, Glynsera, Irisal | Real damage locked behind terrain or long stack setup |
One more time, because it matters more than any placement: these rankings are accurate and they will help you, but you do not need an S-tier team to beat or enjoy this game. It is predominantly solo PvE. Pick the Aniimo you actually like, and if that is a B-tier flower standing proudly on its patch of grass, good. That is the correct choice.
If this kind of ranking is useful, tell me which list you want next: supports, buffers, best Lumen-stage Aniimo to hunt first, or the ones that would taste best barbecued. Kidding, Aniimo. Mostly. Until next time, my fellow Pathfinders.
